


a heavy smoke

by InShores



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Historical Hetalia, Human & Country Names Used (Hetalia), Light Angst, Mostly human though, No Beta, talking about the creation of germany
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:21:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26764243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InShores/pseuds/InShores
Summary: one demands an answer from the bold state who was crossing the line too soon.alternatively, a conversation about a new german state.
Kudos: 13





	a heavy smoke

**Author's Note:**

> so i've been studying german unification recently and a snippet of a convo came to mind!  
> i took some historical liberties and mainly just wanted to write the tension between prussia and austria
> 
> please enjoy!

The smell of smoke lingered in the air even though the cigarette was long since extinguished. In front of Gilbert, there was a mess of maps, letters, and telegrams. Each line of different territory on the German map seemed to mock him a bit, reminding him of the work he had yet to complete. If this map didn’t belong to one of Bismarck’s aides, he would have impulsively put out the cigarette onto it and pretended he didn’t have immensely hard work ahead of him. But then again, Gilbert wasn’t the type to shy away from the truth. 

He heard footsteps coming down the hallway, trailed by another. Even before the visitor was announced, Gilbert already knew who it was. 

“Beilschmidt, sir, Austria had arrived and requested your presence.”

He waved the human away and dismissed him, “Yes, yes. I expected this man to come here anyway. Go off and make yourself useful, Müller.” Throughout the dismissal, his crimson eyes trained on Roderich who was all tense and clearly displeased. 

Only when the door shut, Roderich straightened the labels of his fine coat as if presentation meant anything for the Prussian state in front of him. He marched up to the man at the desk with a thin frown permanently etched onto his lips.

“Gilbert, even after I had given you my help on defeating Mathias and your unification of Saxony, are you still entirely bent on the idea of making a Germany?”

The audacious state in question pushed his pen and then leaned in his chair, settling back on the leather cushions. 

“Yes. Whatever those liberals imagined ‘Germany’ to be, that’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing because I was in it. And if you dare to be so bold again, you’ll ruin everything, all of Europe even. Do you fancy yourself a Napoleon? Breaking the status quo further to a point of destruction.”

“The German people call for a Germany! And I, Prussia, deserve to give it to them as their _gracious benefactor_.” Beginnings of a sneer formed on the albino’s face, filled with the sharp irony.

“You’re being ridiculous. You’ll never get a unified Germany. You know the southern kingdoms despise you-”

A mocking voice cut through the words. “So that rat Bavaria came scampering towards you. ‘ _Oh, Austria, Prussia seems to be on the verge of taking away my sovereignty! That tyrant!_ ’” However, Roderich still kept his calm and equally sharply replied, “Of course. He is a kingdom of his own and you are a thief. What if you can’t contain these nationalist ideas in the south?”

Gilbert could almost hear the question unsaid in the air. 

_What will become of Austria?_

He shared Roderich’s distaste for the rabble-rousers, untempered by experience and filled with foolish hopes. But there was a point that one must appease the enemy to avoid one’s head being chopped off. Even if it meant wars with his next-door neighbors. But he had a feeling everyone knew that; it just meant choosing one’s alliances and moves closely. A heavy silence filled the air as Gilbert huffed through his nose.

“That is a problem for me to solve when I actually get the southern kingdoms.”

“I am a Germanic state, I deserve to hear your thoughts.”

“No, Austria, you don’t.”

  
  
Roderich, out of frustration, ran his fingers through his bangs before slicking them back to neatness again. Gilbert resisted the urge to snort for this man was always something of a wuss. A sharp word or two against him stalled time and had Gilbert amused for a few seconds. 

He then heard a sharp intake a breath.

“And after you unify the southern kingdoms and even if you have the war you want with me, I have a guess who you will use as your new Germany.”

“Who?”

“The corpse of your old lord, the Holy Roman Empire.”

At the mention of the young boy who died far too young, Gilbert dropped the smug facade and his eyes narrowed. He could still remember the unsettling nation whose cough dripped blood. Memories of a shattering cough and a hoarse voice settled in his mind briefly.

_The blue eyes seemed like the depths of a lake as they stared at him. One could try to swim in it but would end up lost in its void._

_“I am to die.”_

_Gilbert’s hands were clasped together, and his gaze focused on the old scabs on white skin._ _"It was a natural evolution of things.”_

_“Yes… but wasn’t it too early?” The young boy asked._

  
  


Then a smooth voice that began to spike with something of his short temper. “And what if I am?”

“It’s a betrayal to who we both knew even if he is dead.”

After all that has been building up between them, Gilbert couldn’t help but to get up from his seat and slam his hands down onto the wooden desk. His hands covering the various military and state messages from his leaders and other influential figures. Beneath all of that was the accursed map of Europe and the tantalizing prospect of a Germany.

“And what about it, Roderich? Germany will be my damn legacy! I’m willing to risk it all to establish a new country right before everyone’s eyes! And if that means I’ll have to fight you, I’ll very much will. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty with everyone’s blood just for my new dream.”

That was his answer to this infernal conversation. 

A tense silence filled the air once more and then Gilbert swallowed thickly. Even if he let the past rile him up even now, he’s no better than Roderich. He must continue to look forward with iron in his blood and without looking back. That is what it means to be this new kind of Prussia now.


End file.
